Wings of hope
by Shardwing52
Summary: In a what if where Asuka does not convince Misaki to come back to the club, the club is left in peril. Although Mashiro tries to stay strong, many factors only serve to weaken her. With the girl thrown into the pits of despair, what will Masaya do, and can she find new wings of strength with Masaya at her side?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Kanata.

Asuka just came out of Misaki's house with a sad look. Thinking back on the talk just now made her sigh. She tried her best to convince Misaki to come back, and though Misaki appreciated her words, she was firm in saying she would not come back.

Asuka walked alone in silence. To think Misaki quitting was sad enough, but her never coming back? The pain Asuka felt was so much worse than before.

'Is there really nothing I can do?' Asuka lamented on her way home with a depressed vibe.

Meanwhile with Mashiro, she went home and sat on her bed with a sad face, pondering the turn of events.

"First Misaki-senpai quits, and then Asuka-senpai doesn't do so well in practice..." Mashiro said. "Will things get better?"

The next day, the gang went to the trailer for their daily FC practice.

"Are you two ready for training?" Masaya asked, to which Asuka and Mashiro nodded. "Good, then go ahead and get started."

"Yes!" Asuka and Mashiro said.

However, after they flew up, Asuka still was being sluggish. This only served to sadden Mashiro. This was the third time in a row Asuka was doing so poor.

"What's the matter?" Mashiro asked in concern.

"Eh, nothing! Just playing like the usual!" Asuka stated in a clumsy type of way.

"I-I see!" Mashiro nearly choked, trying to keep positive.

"She's still not doing well," Madoka noted sadly.

"Yeah, at this rate I'm not sure what will happen," Masaya said.

"True enough," Aoi said next to them as Masaya made a noise of stress. "Tobisawa has been through a lot, and then Kurashina must have really been shaken from losing the way she did to Inui. And I'm sure Tobisawa quitting just made things worse."

The gang continued to watch as Asuka tried to play like normal, but her sluggish movements consisted.

A few days went by, and Mashiro and Asuka still kept coming, along with Madoka. But Mashiro, who'd been trying her best to stay strong, inwardly was increasingly stressed out. Asuka didn't even come the day before today, and today she still didn't come. Mashiro was the only one still coming at this point, and she had to practice on her own because of it. Since her practice consisted of training in the air alone, she wasn't doing very good.

"How are you holding up?" Aoi asked Masaya at the trailer.

"Well enough," Masaya said with a troubled voice. "But..."

"It feels kind of lonely," Madoka said with a sad voice.

Aoi knew they were very concerned, and looked up in the air as Mashiro kept trying to practice by herself. A few tears started leaking out of her eyes, but she tried to subdue it and her emotions. However, attempting to stop them only made more tears come.

"One more time!" Mashiro managed to say, trying to be more efficient with her swipes, but it knocked her out of balance when she tried. Finally she landed. "I'm taking a break-"

"Hey, why are you tearing up?" Masaya asked in concern.

"I'm not!" Mashiro yelled at him, and attempted to walk past him, but Masaya gently but firmly grabbed her arm. "L-let go!"

"Mashiro?" Madoka asked, her tone growing worried.

"Hold it, nobody is mad at you," Masaya started. "I just want to know what's the matter."

"And I said...!" Mashiro tried to get out, but her emotions finally erupted from inside and she begun crying, sitting to the ground on her knees with her face facing the ground. "Darn it...why does everything have to be this way!" Masaya and Madoka were shocked by her emotional outburst, but they kept quiet at the moment and let her speak. "Misaki-senpai leaves first, and now Asuka-senpai seems to be doing the same! What happened to us? We used to be a fun club playing together, and now it's all falling apart like this! I don't want everything to end like this, but I can't do anything for them!"

"Mashiro!" Masaya said, trying to get her attention, but she kept on speaking.

"I'm already not that great as an FC player!" Mashiro sobbed with her hands holding her cheek as tears rapidly slid down them. "And now all of this happens! What am I supposed to do anymore-"

"Mashiro!" Masaya yelled, kneeling down and shaking her shoulders for a moment. "Please calm down." Mashiro sobbed as he took the girl into his arms. "Listen to me, Misaki did quit, and while Asuka may very well do the same, I'm still here."

"But for h-how long?" Mashiro asked tearfully while still sobbing. "You'll probably just leave too. You didn't want to really join, we pushed you into it."

Masaya went silent as Aoi eyed him, wondering how he was going to respond to that.

"You're right," Masaya started as Madoka looked at him. "I was lenient enough to join at the request of you guys. But I had fun with you all. You were the ones who showed me again how fun FC is. No way I'm leaving something this fun again. Even if everyone else leaves the club, I will stay by your side, I promise."

"Aren't you swe-" Madoka started, but she was quickly silenced by a firm grip to her shoulder.

Aoi signaled her with an expression that blatantly told her to keep quiet right now.

"Even if you do, I..." Mashiro started as he rubbed her head gently.

"It's going to be okay," Masaya soothingly said, caressing her head to relax her. "I'm not going anywhere."

Aoi closed her eyes and smiled at the heartwarming sight. Madoka cracked a smile at the sight too.

Mashiro started calming down, and the two remained like that for a few minutes until she recovered. During that time, Masaya did some thinking.

"Kagami-sensei, can we talk in the trailer?" he asked with a serious face.

Aoi was intrigued by this. "Sure," she said.

So the four went in the trailer. "I'll get to the point," he said, bracing himself. "Hand me some all rounder Grav-Shoes of my own to use."

"Eh?" Mashiro and Madoka asked in surprise.

"Are you sure?" Aoi asked with hesitance. "You're still not-"

"I know, but I don't care about that right now," Masaya stated with no room for a debate.

"I got it, if you're truly resolved to do this," Aoi said, handing him a pair.

The four then went back outside. "Okay..." Masaya started, a bit nervous as he slid on the Grav-Shoes.

"You're really going to play?" Mashiro asked, very surprised.

"Yes," Masaya said. "And you're going to fly with me of course."

"But compared to you and everybody else, I'm just weak," Mashiro started, looking down as he put a hand to her shoulder.

"Then I'm going to get you stronger," Masaya said with a smile. "So stop thinking so negatively. Trust in me, okay?"

Mashiro nodded, smiling at him with a somewhat uplifted mood.

"It's just as he says," Madoka encouraged her.

His face then grew serious as he closed his eyes. He recalled several images he did not want to remember, let alone his time as an FC player. But, as if a glass window shattered to pieces, so did the images in his mind. Replaced was an image of Mashiro.

'Exactly, right now what I should be concerned about is her,' Masaya thought, opening his eyes. 'The world I closed off since I was a child, I will leap right back into it! If this girl is at her limit, then I will break it and give her new hope!'

Aoi watched in anticipation. This is what she always wished for, to see him fly in the skies of FC again after all.

Turning on his Grav-Shoes, he flew into the air at fast speed as Mashiro flew up. Getting high enough, she watched in awe as he flew around.

"Amazing," Mashiro said.

"This has gotten crazy," Madoka smiled nervously.

His movements were graceful and fast. "I see my skills still remain," Masaya chuckled. "Boy, I didn't think I'd be doing this, but enough nostalgia," He then flew to Mashiro and stopped. "Now, come at me with everything you've got!"

"Yes!" Mashiro said, charging at him.

"Welcome back, Masaya," Aoi said, watching the two clash together. "To the world you once gave up."

"You know something?" Madoka eyed her.

"Don't mind me, just talking to myself," Aoi stated casual-like.

As Masaya and Mashiro clashed, Masaya could feel the hype growing in him. Mashiro on the other hand cheered up more, just having fun flying with him.

"Geez, you should have done this when you first joined," Mashiro said, smiling at him. "Would have been a great help."

"Yeah, that's what I think," Masaya said as such exciting feelings long numbed from him returned. "Anyway, work on your dogfighting skills. You're fast, but you need work in terms of dogfighting."

"Mmm," Mashiro nodded, trying to hit him, but he easily evaded. "See? It's no good..."

"Wrong," Masaya started. "The fact you're trying means a lot. Not everyone gets as good as fast. Don't give up." Masaya then thought to himself. 'This might take a while.'

Eventually they flew down, and Masaya took Aoi in private to talk with her.

"What it is it?" Aoi asked.

"Can I entrust you and Madoka with looking after Asuka if she comes here?" Masaya asked as Aoi stared at him. "I want to help Mashiro through this. To see her become stronger, and to give her new hope. For that reason, I want to put off my overall duty as a coach temporarely and focus specifically on training Mashiro."

"Very well, I can do that," Aoi said in an understanding voice. "I'll leave Mashiro to you, and I'll be sure to tell Madoka."

Masaya nodded and then went back to Mashiro. "I'm heading home, want to come with me?" he asked.

"Sure, let me change my clothes first," Mashiro said, going in the trailer.

After coming back out, they went on their way. She put her arms around his own, as being near him like this made her feel calm. On getting near his neighborhood, the two stopped.

"Thank you," Mashiro said shyly before giving him a quick peck to the cheeks, and then left.

Masaya held the spot where she kissed him, and smiled at the now fleeing girl. Going inside, he sat down on the couch with his arms crossed.

'She's plenty fast,' Masaya thought back to earlier today. 'But she gets sluggish when dogfighting and can't stay balanced perfectly. This style...now I see. Well, I'll deal with that eventually, the girl needs some rest after such a rough day.'

Later on after it grew dark, Mashiro was preparing to go to bed, but decided to call up Masaya.

RIIIING!

"Hello?" Masaya asked, opening his cell phone and putting it to his ear.

"I just wanted to see if you were still up," Mashiro started, holding her cat plush doll in her arms and sitting on the bed. "And, to thank you again, for putting up with me."

"It's no problem," Masaya said with a friendly voice. "Besides you're my friend, I want to help."

"Geez, Masaya-senpai is too kind," Mashiro almost giggled. "It was really incredible, seeing you fly like that. I had no idea you were that tough."

"I guess," Masaya said. "Say, there is a place I want to take you tomorrow for training, you up for it?"

"Sure," Mashiro said.

"Alright, have a goodnight," Masaya said.

"You too," Mashiro said and the two hung up. She then got in her bed, sleeping in a good mood, while thinking about Masaya.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Ao no Kanata.

The next morning, Masaya woke up and carried on with a typical early day.

Afterwards, he called Mashiro up and had her meet him near the beach in a different location from the trailer. It was a nice area suited for privacy.

"Alright, first off why don't we simply run together?" Masaya asked.

"Ohhh, I get so tired when I do this!" Mashiro comically pouted, wearing her white tea shirt and black gym shorts.

"Don't worry, I'll keep my pace to match yours, and we'll stop when you want to," Masaya said. "The first thing we need to do is improve your stamina. Speed means nothing if you can't last long."

"I understand," Mashiro said in a not so confident voice.

So they begun running. Just as he said, he kept his speed on par to hers, and would not go any faster. Eventually they stopped once Mashiro called for it. As the girl panted, Mashiro spoke.

"It was bad, wasn't it?" Mashiro asked.

"On the contrary," Masaya stated shaking his head. "You put in good effort, and I want you to keep doing so."

Mashiro stared at him with wonderment. Even now, he still had this much confidence in her, and still wants to stick with her? She then recalled the promise he made about staying with her and not leaving her. With this recall, she smiled at him, feeling something that was hard to describe.

They then flew in the air together after changing into their FC clothes. Masaya had a white FC clothing with a few green patterns on it, and white Grav-Shoes. While Mashiro couldn't score on him at all and kept losing confidence, each time he was right there to cheer her up and encourage her.

Days went by, and little by little Mashiro was improving, as was her confidence. As the two spent time together, Mashiro's affection for him grew. She begun to display slightly intimate signs of affection, causing him to blush. The two had fun flying together and hanging out with each other. Masaya was very much happy seeing the girl become more confident, and Mashiro was deeply grateful to how supportive he has been to her.

During all this, Masaya carefully watched how she played, and while he had an idea at first, he needed to observe her more close up before he was entirely sure. But now he was positive what the problem was.

Right now they were at the beach in private away from where people would normally come to. It was dark at night and the stars were out.

"You told me I should try out all rounders," Mashiro started, looking at the Grav-Shoes on her feet. "But why?"

"Like I said, there's something I want to verify, and for that I need you to fly with them," Masaya started. "Be mindful this might take a moment or more to get used to."

"Here goes!" Mashiro stated, turning on her Grav-Shoes. "Go!"

The two flew into the air. "Try just flying around and see how it feels," Masaya ordered.

So she did, and was surprised. "This feels a lot less loose," Mashiro noted. "This is pretty comfortable."

"Good, now I want you to try dogfighting me," Masaya once more ordered.

"Yes!" Mashiro said, swiping at him. 'Wow, it's so much more smooth and easy,' While he was easily dodging her, Mashiro beamed with excitement. "So this is an all rounder type of Grav-Shoes. Awesome, this is awesome!"

Masaya smiled at the girl and stopped. "This was your real strength," he stated as she looked at him with curiosity. "You're trying to do many playstyles, but your issue is that you are using Grav-Shoes more geared to one style of play. Remember when you started out as a dogfighter? You lacked the speed which messed you up when trying to dogfight, and your body weight made it even harder because you have less balance. When you chose to be a speeder, you became much faster, but you were too fast as a speeder that it got you unbalanced when trying to dogfight very well. A speeder tends to avoid more dogfighting style of play and go for buoys if they can. A dogfighter tends to engage more at the cost of not being as fast as a speeder is. Mashiro, what you truly were suited for was an all rounder. An all rounder is the perfect balance of both playstyles that you were trying to effectively use, and the speed is also at a more balanced degree, and while not as fast as a speeder, is just the right speed for you without getting you off balance."

Mashiro looked at her functioning Grav-Shoes. "I'm...an all rounder," she muttered.

"Exactly, that is what you always had the knack for," Masaya gently said. "With this you can bring out your full potential. You were unable to do that before because you chose the other two classes, which had the same problem of unbalance for someone like you who is trying to effectively use both playstyles and have proper speed that is just the right balance without being too fast or too slow."

Mashiro stared back at him, and overcomed with joy flew forward to hug him. "Hey wait-" Masaya started.

He was too late, and due to the safety touch mechanism in the Grav-Shoes, both were sent flying backwards. Masaya was first to recover and sweat dropped. Had he been on the ground without his own Grav-Shoes on, the system wouldn't have activated since it requires both people to have the shoes on. He knew it was for safety reasons so that people playing can't inflict harm on others, but it was times like this that made Masaya question why they even bothered. Surely they could have given it an option to turn on or off, but he wasn't the creator of these Grav-Shoes so he couldn't do anything about it. Still questionable though.

"You okay?" Masaya asked nervously.

"Ah stupid repel system!" Mashiro pouted childishly with frantic motions. "I wanted to hug Masaya-senpai!"

"In that case why don't we land and shut these off?" Masaya suggested with slightly red cheeks.

So they did, and after shutting off the Grav-Shoes, Mashiro ran into his arms, rubbing her cheek against his chest. Masaya's cheeks became very flushed this time.

"Thank you so much!" Mashiro stated excitedly as she displayed her affection in full.

"Y-you're welcome," Masaya stuttered.

The two sat down, star gazing. "I'm really happy you know," Mashiro stated as she looked at the stars. "When Misaki-senpai quit the team, it hurt me a lot, but I tried to be strong because I do like FC. I carried on hoping she would come back, but she didn't. Then Asuka-senpai was depressed and didn't get any better. As if I didn't have enough to make me feel down, she doesn't even show up anymore, leaving me to carry this club on my own, as I'm the only one who still stayed as a player. It finally reached the breaking point for me, I couldn't take it anymore. On top of all that, I wasn't that good as a player and felt I couldn't catch up to them. Really, it felt like everything was falling apart before me. My friends were leaving, and I wasn't that good a player. But when I nearly lost all hope and didn't know what to even do anymore, you reached out to me," She rested her head on his shoulder and put her arms around his. "You promised to stay at my side and wouldn't leave me even if the others don't come back. Despite my being negative, you put up with it all and believed in me. Even now, you're still by my side, thank you. It means a lot to me."

"I owe you too," Masaya started as she looked at him. "When I saw how deep in despair you were, I got to thinking and made a decision."

"A decision?" Mashiro asked.

"Yes, the world of FC I shut myself away from, I would go right back into," Masaya stated. "Because you're more important to me than some fear. Sure I was scared at first, but I was resolved to help you through this and to give you hope even stronger than you had before. There's no way I would let my friend be consumed by despair. If you'd given up on yourself, then I would become stronger and give you new hope. Just like you and the others did for me."

"We taught you how fun FC can be, right?" Mashiro gently asked recalling what he said the day he flew with her.

Masaya nodded. "More than that, I really am happy that I made the choice to train with you alone," he said. "I saw the girl who'd lost all hope regain her wonderful smile and become happy again."

Mashiro blushed as she stared at him with eyes glazing and a smile.

"I may be repeating myself, but I am happy too, that you never left my side and were always there for me regardless of my negativity about myself," Mashiro said.

"And we will continue to be at each other's side," Masaya said assuringly. "The training has only begun. Now that you're an all rounder, the next step is to become stronger."

"Mmm," Mashiro said. 'And I will, because you're with me, Senpai.'

As her heart had tingly-like feelings, she closed her eyes while he stared at the stars.

Weeks went by as Mashiro became progressively stronger, being very effective as an all rounder. There was a few times Asuka came over to the trailer, but Aoi pointed out Masaya and Mashiro were doing some private training of their own together and to not disturb them. Madoka had been filled in the day after Masaya talked with Aoi, and was told to leave them alone, which Madoka understood. With that, Asuka practiced in the air by herself with Aoi giving her a hand here and there. Misaki, due to not being in the club, just carried on her house duty's and didn't come to the club to avoid pressure.

At the moment it was in the afternoon, and a knock was heard at Misaki's house door.

"Hello-" Misaki started after opening the door, only to stop on seeing Masaya and Mashiro. "It's you guys, come for a visit?"

Mashiro stared her in the eyes seriously, which threw Misaki off-guard.

"I want to challenge you to a match!" Mashiro stated.

"Huh!?" Misaki asked, dumbfounded. "What are you talking about, you and I both know you don't have a chance."

"Are you sure about that?" Masaya asked with folded arms.

"What do you mean?" Misaki asked with narrowed eyes.

"How about this," Mashiro started, ignoring her question. "If you can beat me, you're free to do as you please. But, if I win, you come back to the club!"

"Were you hit on the head or something?" Misaki asked. "Fine then, if you're so determined to deny the reality you're not strong enough, I'll have to show you."

"Go ahead and try!" Mashiro dared with a fierceness in her eyes.

"At least you have guts, I'll give you that," Misaki said, getting her Grav-Shoes. "One condition, if I win, I get a box full of Udon."

The three then went off to the trailer, with Misaki staring at Mashiro curiously. Where did she get this powerful confidence? Totally different from the Mashiro she knows who would be overly affectionate and wanting her attention. After getting there, the two girls changed into their FC clothes.

Misaki then flew up. "Ready?" Masaya asked Mashiro as he put on his head set to talk to her.

Mashiro nodded and flew up. Misaki didn't notice anything different about Mashiro's Grav-Shoes since they were the same color as her previous one.

They took their stand at the starting point. "Are you really sure you want to do this?" Misaki asked. "I'm not going to hold back you know."

"Wouldn't want you to," Mashiro stated facing forward. 'This is the first time I'm facing Misaki this seriously. I'm a bit nervous to be honest, but I will win this and bring her back!'

'Where is she getting this confidence?' Misaki thought. 'I've known her for a long time, but she never had such powerful confidence against me like this. How can she be so sure of defeating me?'

"It's finally time," Mashiro muttered quietly in her earpiece to Masaya.

"Yeah," Masaya said, thinking back to an event during their training as he looked at Mashiro:

"Senpai," Mashiro started seriously. "I...want to bring Misaki-senpai back to the club. That's why, I want to keep getting stronger!"

"I understand," Masaya told her. "It's not like you haven't gotten better since we started, but I get it. With your own hands you want to bring her back."

Mashiro nodded. "That's why I want to work harder then I've ever done before!" she stated with determination and smiled at him. "Therefore, please teach me your moves too!"

"Mine?" Masaya asked.

"To face Misaki-senpai, I must go beyond my limits!" Mashiro stated.

"You should understand first that you are not going to just master these in a few days," Masaya started. "This might take us weeks. But if you're determined, let's do it."

"Thank you!" Mashiro stated happily.

He then snapped back to reality and faced Mashiro and Misaki in the air. Masaya signaled them with a whistle, leading them to take off.

"Here I go!" Mashiro yelled, flying slightly downwards quickly.

"Fast!" Misaki commented, and seeing she was faster, Misaki went to the next buoy.

Mashiro touched the first buoy, putting her in the lead. "I'm positive Misaki is going to aim to get you in a dogfight," Masaya started through the headset to Mashiro. "If that's the case, meet her head on and show off your new strength."

"Roger!" Mashiro responded.

Misaki, who was near the next buoy in wait, sighed. "Well time to end this and get something worthwhile out of all this," she said. Once Mashiro charged at her, Misaki swiped. "Got ya-what!?"

Mashiro swiftly dodged her attack with complete ease. Misaki grunted in annoyance, but to her shock she was missing each swipe. Mashiro in response swiftly touched her, sending her flying. Mashiro then got into position, a position Asuka does.

"That's-" Misaki started, unable to move in time as Mashiro touched her back for a point. "An Air Kick Turn!?"

"I'm just starting!" Mashiro stated seriously.

"Don't screw with me!" Misaki yelled in annoyance.

In her anger, she fiercely managed to touch Mashiro, knocking her to the water.

"Now!" Masaya stated.

"Yes!" Mashiro said, recovering as Misaki proceeded to go to the next buoy.

"Blast, I'm being cornered by her!" Misaki stated to herself in frustration. "Is this really Mashiro?"

Mashiro now started building up momentum while Masaya grinned. Once enough was gathered, Mashiro boosted very fast above, intercepting Misaki who had to stop due to colliding with her otherwise. Misaki became stunned in awe as she watched how graceful Mashiro flew about.

'Sonic Boost, a move similar to Saki's elevation,' Masaya thought. 'It's an incredibly fast burst of speed created by building momentum and releasing it. To think I'd end up teaching this to someone just like Kagami-sensei taught it to me.'

"This can't be, I refuse to believe you're Mashiro!" Misaki yelled in defiance. "The Mashiro I know is sluggish and frankly rather weak!"

In response, Mashiro charged at her, flicking her off balance like a human would a fly, and once more got another point by touching her back.

"I'm not like you!" Mashiro stated with determination, all the while continuing to touch her back over and over. "You gave up and ran away! I almost made the same mistake, but when I was at the breaking point, Masaya-senpai helped me keep going. He was there by my side the whole time, supporting me, training me. It's because of him that I'm as strong as I am, and it's because of him that I didn't give up on myself and found the strength to move forward! You on the other hand gave up and ran away! While you ran away from your problems, I've been training this whole time, becoming stronger and regaining the confidence I threw away!"

"You..." Misaki trailed off in amazement.

"I won't give up!" Mashiro declared, warding off her attempts to knock her away and continued touching her back, pouring her emotions into them. "Even if you stubbornly refuse to rejoin after this, I will keep moving forward with Masaya-senpai!"

Masaya smiled at her conviction, and his cheeks grew red at her last part.

'Mashiro, in the time I've seen of you, you never had this level of resolve or strength,' Misaki thought, looking at her in awe.

Mashiro stopped and stared at her. "I really miss you being with us," she started in a less angry voice. "No matter what, you never quit. If there was a challenge to overcome, you proudly kept trying. That's the Misaki-senpai I know."

"People lose interest-" Misaki started before getting cut off.

"No, the fact is you're just making excuses!" Mashiro stated firmly just like a parent would to their child.

"That's not true!" Misaki yelled out in strained emotions as she tried to touch Mashiro. "I tried...I've been doing the best I could!"

"Stop acting as you've done your best!" Mashiro yelled while glaring firmly at her, and knocking Misaki away. "You keep saying things like 'people lose interest' and 'I'm doing my best'. That's just you trying to pity yourself!" Misaki gasped from her words as Mashiro touched her back for another point. "You say you lost interest, but it's really just you wanting to avoid responsibility for needing to improve. Shindou has beaten you twice, and then Asuka-senpai pushed him harder than you. Instead of trying to get better, you quit FC and then made up excuses to try justifying yourself! You're just running away and placing limits on yourself!"

"That's..." Misaki trailed off as a struggle took place and she attempted to defend herself. "That's...!"

"I've come to understand in my time with Masaya, that there are no limits in FC!" Mashiro yelled boldly, and with those words touched Misaki in the back for another point after quickly circling around her.

Misaki didn't move as she took to heart what was just said. Was it true? Was she just wallowing in her own self pity and creating limits? Misaki then closed her eyes, and then smiled after a few moments.

'In my absence, now I'm the one who needs serious polishing,' Misaki thought, recalling all of Mashiro's words in this match. 'And yet...why am I not upset about that? Furthermore, Masaya stayed by her side even at her lowest point. Yet I...what have I really accomplished? No matter how I look at it, I'm the one who's weak and pathetic.'

The match eventually ended with Misaki 6 points and Mashiro 13.

Misaki stared at Mashiro, who stared back at her with unwavering determined eyes.

"I have to admit," Misaki started, smiling at her. "You're not weak, and you've become really strong."

"A loss is a loss," Mashiro started confidently and a lightened up expression. "While it was a bet, do you truly want to join again?"

"Looks like I'll have to, no way I'm letting you and Asuka get so far ahead of me," Misaki said with a perked up face.

Mashiro smiled, very happy about her coming back.

She then turned to Masaya and flew down to him, signaling him to put his hands out like she was doing. He did as she indicated, and upon interlocking her hands with his own, inched her face forward and pressed her lips onto his. Misaki flew down to them, and in coming in view of the kiss, stopped, going "Eh!?".

Masaya's cheeks reddened as much as Mashiro's were, and his eyes widened before they closed. He relaxed into the lip contact and kissed back while strengthening his grip in her hands. It was a moment that needed no words exchanged to convey the feelings they had. The two parted, smiling and gazing into each other's eyes.

"Um, can we become lovers?" Mashiro asked shyly.

"Of course," Masaya said gently.

"Isn't that just sweet," Misaki said, landing with a grin plastered on her face.

"Jealous much?" Mashiro asked with annoyance, landing and snuggling next to Masaya.

"Not really," Misaki said, looking at Masaya. "Where's that resign form?"

Going in the trailer, Masaya took it out and handed it to her. Scrambling her name on the paper, she handed it back.

"Alright, Misaki-senpai came back!" Mashiro exclaimed. "Now she'll have to call us the senpais."

"Dream on," Misaki said with a sweet drop, before hugging Mashiro.

"Senpai?" Mashiro asked, surprised by the action.

"I'm sorry you had to go through such a hard time," Misaki said gently. "In my place, you remained strong. No, more than that you've really grown. Honestly I didn't think you had it in you to tell me off like that. You've taught me a lesson, I should have kept trying, but instead I ended up being pretty lame. I get it now, just like you, I need to be strong and face my problems."

Mashiro smiled and snuggled her cheek against her chest while Misaki had her arms around her. Masaya smiled at the touching moment. Now that just left the matter of Asuka.

Misaki then left on her own, and knocked on Asuka's house door. The door opened, revealing Asuka. Misaki stated she was coming back to the club, overjoying Asuka.

They then went to the trailer and saw Madoka staring up. Facing up towards the sky, Asuka and Misaki were awed.

"Coach!?" Asuka asked with an opened mouth: Madoka told her before that he was playing with Grav-Shoes, but this was her first time seeing him fly with them.

"He's, flying," Misaki muttered with an opened mouth as well.

"That is correct," Aoi said walking up to the two. "It's good to see you again Tobisawa. I haven't seen you around in weeks."

"Well get used to me being back, because I'm here to stay," Misaki stated with a confident look.

"Oh, so you joined again," Aoi said with a grin on her face. "If I may ask, what made you change your mind now?"

"Let's just say I've had a wake up call," Misaki said casually.

"By the way, you said Mashiro switched to all rounders?" Madoka asked Aoi.

"On Masaya's suggestion she did," Aoi clarified.

"I figured as much," Misaki said as Aoi looked at her. "During our match, I could tell something was different. So this must be the feeling I had. Well it's good to see her find her true strength."

"Yes, she and Coach are pretty awesome!" Asuka said, getting goosebumps watching them in the sky.

"We have to do our best so they don't stay past us," Misaki admitted.

As everyone looked back towards the sky, Masaya and Mashiro kept practicing. Masaya held back considerably, keeping his skill matched to hers. While she missed each hit on him like usual, she wasn't unhappy and kept trying, pulling out things like the Sonic Boost and Air Kick Turn. Eventually they quit practicing and flew upwards towards the sun, which left a brief radiating spark to those on the ground.

The next day, Mashiro practiced with Masaya while Misaki and Asuka practiced together. The peacefulness of the club was back in full swing to Aoi, Madoka, Masaya and Mashiro's relief. Later in the day, Masaya and Mashiro sat together alone at the beach.

'I found it, my own wings,' Mashiro thought, reaching a hand to the sun and clenching her hand. 'And...'

Masaya placed his hand on hers and the two smiled at each other before sharing a kiss.

THE END.


End file.
